


Duality of You and Me

by LivingByBooks



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Parallel Universes, Pirates, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:41:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28656636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivingByBooks/pseuds/LivingByBooks
Summary: Four Years after the Hundred Year War, Aang is taken by a Lion Turtle to help save its world. Along the way, he discovers he isn't the last airbender or the only Avatar. Main Ship: Katara x Aang x Katara
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Peril

**One: Peril**

Peace.

Who would have thought they could achieve it?

Aang sighed contentedly as he peered across the water onto Republic City. He's watched the colony morph from a cluster of districts, known as Cranefish Town, into the bustling city it was becoming. It's been the epicenter of rigorous challenges and change, but also an inspirational beacon of hope to all.

Of course there was still a long way to recovery after the One Hundred Years War. There were strifes and outlashes as the dust settled across the world, yet nothing overwhelmingly chaotic that the Gaang couldn't handle. While the six had mostly gone their separate ways a few years after the war, they typically returned to the newly established Air Temple Island a few times a year.

There, Aang began to teach the Air acolytes and build his new home. It was where one day soon, he hoped, would be a place for Katara too.

Aang giggled in glee as he traced along the carvings of the betrothal necklace he had finished earlier that day. Instead of using his meditation beads for that night's rumination, he wanted to pray over his modest work. While he knew he would be ridiculed by some for proposing at sixteen⸺an age when he should have been announced to the world as the Avatar to begin his training in the other elements⸺Aang was certain that this was the next step in his life. They didn't need to marry right away, but he was anxious to let the world know he loved Katara.

And like many times before he succumbed to the tranquility of meditation, his final conscious thoughts were of his love.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded in the middle of the woods rather than the island's cliff he had been meditating on. It felt safe and familiar somehow, so he closed his eyes once more. However, not even two seconds had passed when Aang's eyes shot open. Realization dawned on him as he ran towards the edge of the forest and saw water surrounding them.

"The Lion Turtle!"

Aang watched the currents to determine where the beast's head was located, then dove into the water. It was a perfect time to use a waterbending trick Katara showed him. To remain above its surface, he used a similar method to that of his air scooter, but was bigger and encompassed his body like a vertical ring. He called it a water wheel and unlike his air scooter, it was more tangible, therefore easier to adjust his speed and reach its head quicker.

"It's great to see you again Sifu Lion Turtle!" Aang gazed up with a wide grin on his face and froze. "Oh, you're a different one from before!"

He dropped the water and used air to jump high in order to get a better look at its forehead markings. It's long wavy curls were similar to those of the water tribes and its eyes appeared lighter, though more tired, than the first Lion Turtle he had met years ago.

It lifted one of its paws for Aang to land on and spoke to him.

"Avatar, forgive me for kidnapping you, but I had no other choice," her weathered voice affirmed his musings. "My people are in grave danger; I fear our world is about to collapse."

Alarmed by the news, Aang turned, as if there would be clues as to what was happening around him. Unfortunately, they were completely surrounded by water giving nothing away, yet he could feel the temperature dropping.

"What's wrong?! Where are we going? I haven't heard of anything disastrous from the other nations," Aang felt naked without Momo for comfort or his staff for protection. All he had on him were his robes, a few nuts he typically fed to Momo, and Katara's betrothal necklace.

Aang swallowed back guilt. Katara was set to arrive back home any minute, was probably already there, and looking for him.

The Lion Turtle set him on her forehead and continued forward, increasing her pace.

"We are headed towards the Arctic Sea, I just hope I am not too late," the currents around her became deeper and more harsh as she sped across the calm surface. "I have debated for centuries whether to seek help from other worlds and have concluded I cannot not sit back any longer. With the permission and assistance from Huǒ, I've been able to cross over and find one of you."

Nothing made sense to Aang as she continued to speak of worlds and places he's never heard about before.

"Uhm, excuse me, wait a minute," he sat down to prevent himself from pacing atop her head. From the tone of her voice, it sounded like they were going straight into battle. "I've never heard of the Arctic Sea. I'm assuming it's near the Northern Water Tribe, but I just don't know. Who is Huǒ and what do you mean by worlds, as in plural?"

"My name is Shuǐ, I am one of the guardians of this world. Huǒ is from your world. We try not to intervene in human affairs, however that is not an option anymore for us. Our world is on the brink of collapse because our Avatars have suffered alone for far too long. They're being poisoned from within, but I see the potential in this current one to help restore balance."

Aang noticed ice peaks in the horizon. He hadn't exactly been everywhere in the world, but those glaciers did not look like anything in the South Pole. Out of all the nations in his world, the North was his least visited, but then again, apparently this wasn't his world.

A massive boom rippled across the water, urging Shuǐ forward faster.

"You must hurry and find the avatar of this world," as they approached land. "Although I do not know of them exactly, it is for certain that they were born as a waterbender from the Arctic Sea and approximately your age. The last Earth Avatar did not make it past infancy before he was assassinated."

He hopped off her forehead, still lost and confused, "Wait, did you say Earth, not Air? Assassinated?! What am I supposed to do?!"

"I know only you can help them," Shuǐ began to submerge, "You must find them and bring them back with you! I will return once it is safe. Hurry!"

Another explosion was heard in the distance, this time closer.

Aang had no idea what he was doing, but he supposed it was best to start with finding out the source of the tremors. With the rotation of his arms and a perfect sphere of air, Aang took off on his air scooter.

. x . X . x .

Her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Every intake of air burned her lungs and threatened to explode like the cannonballs falling around her. Tears stung her eyes, making it much more difficult for her to see anything anymore. It would be easier to just give up, embrace her demise as long as it meant she could rest.

A pained cry escaped her lips as she fell onto the icy ground. That was it. She was done.

All her life she had run from her older brother's cruelty, accustomed to being his target practice. However, despite the torture, his intentions were never death. He'd been trying to protect her, teach her how to fight back, or at least how to dodge. They had both known that day would come. The day when Katara was deemed useless by their mother and discarded.

Neither imagined she'd choose to kill her own daughter.

Pirate Queen Kya paced the deck, furious that Katara managed to dodge her attacks. The young girl, barely an adolescent, narrowly avoided each blow by a hairline. She had hoped she'd get to witness her artillery end her, but it appeared not even the cracking ice could swallow her. Despite not being a bender, ice and water seemed to love her.

Kya knew Katara had been useless the moment she was born, weak and two months early, yet she let her live. She had hoped of at least gaining another strong waterbender like herself. Instead, Katara had turned fourteen without an ounce of talent. The girl at least knew how to run.

Unfortunately for the child, her eldest son was faster.

"Sokka! Finish her!"

Ever the dutiful son, Sokka stepped forward, unsheathing his blade from his back.

"No. Burn that wench."

With a nod, Sokka jumped off the ship to chase after her.

Their typical game of cat and mouse would be no more after he caught her, and he knew he would. Sokka briefly wondered how he'd entertain himself after her death. Panuk was too young with so much potential, their mother would drown him if he singed a single strand of her baby's hair. Torturing animals was never an option, they were only meant for hunting and they couldn't fight back, but Katara could.

She may have had a head start, but she was losing stamina. The snowy ground didn't help her either; all he had to do was follow it and he'd find her. As he examined her foot prints, he noticed her gait had lessened, therefore he was getting closer, likely behind the ice shards.

His lips twitched downward, how boring.

Sokka stepped carefully not to make any noise and to test the ice's strength beneath him. It was very durable despite it being the middle spring. Though he'd rather not take any chances, he really had no other choice, their mother wanted her burned. Rolling his eyes at his mother's ridiculous request, he figured he had enough cover from the shards to end it with his sword instead. It would be less painful if he managed to do it quick enough.

He could hear her heavy breathing.

"I found you," he turned the corner with a smirk. Had Katara not screamed and scurried back frantically, she'd have noticed there was no merit in his eyes. Not that it mattered.

What consequence would him losing a sister be compared to losing her life?

Sokka rushed her, raising his sword to finish her, but she raised her hands too.

The ice below them cracked and a massive wall of water rose between them. Sokka jumped back surprised. Katara had never been able to waterbend before⸺ or at least he'd never seen her do so. She'd been beaten with it over and over again, had the best waterbender in the world to teach her, their mother was viciously good, yet she never picked up on it. Sokka would have loved to find out how and why, but it was too late.

He returned his sword to its scabbard, finally grinning wickedly.

"So you _can_ waterbend, little sis," he jumped over the rift, stalking closer towards his prey. "Do you think mother dearest would be proud? Should we run along together and tell her you're finally able to fight back?"

"I'm _**never**_ going back," Katara choked back her sobs. She got up, slowly moving backwards with her eyes on him.

_There's that fire in her eyes like before,_ Sokka was giddy, glad to have his plaything back.

"Good, we're on the same page."

Below his feet, the ice rumbled once more, but he was faster, he lunged towards her and she defended as best as she could with her new found element. It was a sad excuse for waterbending, little spritz of water and ice against his fists, and he wasn't even trying.

"Sorry for cutting our last little game short, Katara, but mother is waiting," he dropped into a horse stance, the only warning he gave her before shot fire at her.

"KATARAAAAA!"

A burst of air shot Sokka away from Katara and the ice shards.

He tumbled back, not stopping until a soft mound of snow encased his body. Stunned, Sokka at first thought the attack came from his sister, but he looked up in time to see orange and yellow robes scoop her up and run in the opposite direction.

Cursing, his fists enveloped in fire and melted the snow around him. He had never lost his prey before and he wasn't about to lose one now.


	2. Waterbending

**Two: Waterbending**

Once her brian caught up to the speed at which they were running⸺ flying(?!)⸺ her fighting instincts took over. She wiggled out of the man’s arms by swiveling her torso the opposite direction from her hips and repeated. His grip was strong, but she was used to wiggling out of constricting situations. Plus, the man couldn’t possibly focus on both flying and keeping her detained.

“What are you doing? Stop!” She heard the frustration in his voice and struggled even more until his arms loosed.

Sensing her chance, Katara kicked out and felt nothing but the harsh frozen air around her as she slipped from his grasp.

Before her body could hit the icey ground, however, a warm current of air cushioned her fall. The large, bald man was not so lucky. He tumbled temporarily, but quickly recovered by rotating his arms that allowed his legs to touch the ground and push off, allowing him to run towards her instantly.

Gasping, Katara shuffled back and stood as fast as she could, foolishly believing she could outrun him. And in a blink of an eye, he was there.

“Katara, wait!”

Her knees gave out and tears flooded her vision. This was truly the end for her. She dug her nails into the ice and howled with so much agony, the man before her instinctively jumped back then dove for her.

“Katara, what’s wrong?! Are you hurt? Show me where, please!”

She was deaf to his concerns and blinded by remorse. With as much strength as she could muster, she lashed out.

Ice daggers flew from where her nails had dug down and were launched at the man. She stomped down like she’d seen her mother do before, swept her shoulders and arms down and pushed them apart, splitting the ice below them. If she were to die that day, then it would be by her own terms.

Yet, before she could dive into the freezing water, the man iced the surface once more with his breath and swooped her up into his arms.

“Katara, I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her hair and rubbed her back in soothing circles. “I’m not here to hurt you⸺ and I know this is all confusing⸺but I could never hurt you. Please, Katara, trust me.”

She gripped his naked arms and looked up at him through fresh tears, but didn’t break away. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

Not wanting to overwhelm her, he smiled and gave her some space once he was certain she wouldn’t run away.

“My name is Aang, I’m not from around here, but let’s just say I know some bits and pieces about you, like your name.”

She studied his silver eyes, skeptical of the warmth she saw in them, but she had, moments before, genuinely given up. Katara comforted herself with the fact that if she had to die at the hands of this man, at least he was good looking.

Hmm…, a thought crossed head, perhaps she was dead…

Sokka had killed her and the mystery man, Aang, was her spirit guide taking her away to everlasting peace. That was the only way she could reason the odd sensation of tranquility washing over her. Plus, the guy was half naked with only pants and flimsy robes in the frozen tundra known as the Arctic Sea. If that wasn’t other worldly, then she did not know what was.

Katara sighed and reached out for him, latching onto his robes and pulled him close.

“Aang, before you take me into the Spirit World,” she tried to flutter her eyelashes at him, but they kind of got stuck since they were damp and likely freezing over. “Would you at least kiss me before we cross over?”

“What?!” Aang tried to pull back, but her grip on him was strong. “Spirit World? K-kiss?”

“I never got to see the world or find my true love,” Katara continued, “but I think I could find peace if you did it.”

Aang could feel his face burn in embarrassment. She wasn’t his Katara, and she was fourteen years old! Or so she looked the same age as when they had first met in his own world. He briefly wondered if Katara back home ever panicked about their age difference like he was panicking now.

BooOOOM!!!!

Another cannonball went off in the distance.

The tremors at their feet cracked the thin layers of ice and the two almost slipped into the freezing waters, but Aang grabbed her and shot them into the air.

In the distance, they saw sails shift and waters churn.

“They’re coming for us!” Katara gasped.

“We’ve got to keep going,” Aang set her down once they drifted back onto solid ice. “We need to get as far away as possible and get you to safety. Is there any place you can go to hide?”

She couldn’t tear her gaze way from where they had seen the ship, “No. All my life I’ve been raised aboard that ship.”

Aang rested his hand upon her shoulder, “Then tell me, is Sokka the Avatar?”

That caused her to pull her gaze away from the frozen landscape towards him.

“No,” she raised an eyebrow at him, “I thought you were the Avatar. If you’re not from the Spirit World, and you can fly and make ice… unless, you’re a successful hybrid?! Are your parents Waterbenders and Airbenders?”

“Nooo….,” they were both quickly getting confused with one another, but he didn’t think he should be exposing himself as another world’s Avatar. “I was born an airbender, ...it’s just really cold here so I could do that! What do you mean by hybrid and why could Sokka firebend?”

Katara’s eyes darted back towards the ominous horizon, “We need to go back, back to our—I mean— their camp. I need to get Pirta back!”

Aang’s head was spinning with questions, but thankfully she began to elaborate as she ran towards wherever their camp had been.

“Pirta’s my arctic owl-wolf,” she huffed, “she’s my only friend. I can’t just leave her!”

Understanding, Aang followed her.

They soon reached the edge of the ice and saw the vast body of water between them and the next sheet of ice. If Aang hadn’t lied to Katara about being an Avatar, then he could have easily created an ice bridge, but he didn’t know the repercussions of others finding out about him. To make matters worse, they began to see the shape of the ship in the distance.

Thinking fast, Aang grabbed Katara and lowered himself to her height, “Katara, I need you to cut the ice around us so that I can push us towards the other side with my airbending.”

“I can’t,” she looked away, “I don’t know how.”

Incredulous, Aang dropped his hands, “If you want to get to Pirta, we have to try. Look, mimic my movements and you’ll be able to do it.”

He straightened his arms and made cutting movements, “Breath in as you pull your arms back and exhale as you release them, and cut!”

Katara copied him, but it wasn’t until he joined her motions that the ice around them did break off.

“You did it!!”

Aang congratulated her, but she didn’t feel successful. She hadn’t felt the push she had experienced earlier with Sokka or even when she launched the ice daggers at Aang. Instead, she looked at her hands as Aang stooped low towards the edge and used a gust of wind to push them along.

“If you duck low like me, there’s less wind resistance and we’ll be able to go faster,” Aang advised and Katara followed.

The two sped across the surface, but both heard an explosion before they felt the cannonball land dangerously close. Large waves knocked them off course, but Aang managed to keep them from flipping over.

“Katara, I need you to draw me a map of where we need to go to get to Pirta. As detailed as possible, please,” Aang instructed and once she was occupied, he began to waterbend behind her back so they could move faster and away from the incoming ship.

The waters were relatively calm and there was barely any wind, therefore Aang concluded that there were other waterbenders aboard that ship moving it along. He silently cursed as he tried to sort the pros and cons of revealing himself as an Avatar.

Shuǐ hadn’t mentioned keeping a low profile, but if his job was to identify and possibly train this world’s Avatar, then he should attempt to retain anonymity. Otherwise, he could potentially disrupt this world’s balance even more.

Sweat dripped down his temple and he slowed once Katara turned towards him.

“I’m done! Aang, are you okay?”

He half smiled, “Not going to lie, this would be easier for a waterbender.”

A look of pain crossed her face, but it quickly morphed into one of determination as she positioned herself next to him.

“What was that you were doing earlier? Let me try,” she widened her stance and dropped her hips to copy what he had been doing while her back was turned. “I felt a push like this?”

Their ice board shot forward for a few seconds then lost its force. She tried again and again, shooting them across the water like a stone pebble while Aang studied her map.

“Hey, this is pretty great!” Aang marveled at her handy work, “Sokka would be proud! I think if we keep using this water path and loop around, we’d get there faster than if we cut across on foot.”

Katara stopped moving, alerting Aang.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave it all to you,” he returned next to her and used air to keep them going. “Katara?”

“Why would my brother be proud of my silly map? It only ever made him angry and brought me pain,” she continued her exercise, using more force and propelling them faster.

Aang was stunned. Although it hurt him to see Katara in pain, he had to ask once more.

“I’m sorry to ask again, but how can Sokka firebend?”

She sighed, but finally gave him a straight answer, “Sokka’s my half-brother. His father was a firebender and I suppose it didn’t matter what my father was because I ended up being a waterbender like her. Our younger brother, Panuk is an earthbender. I haven’t seen him in a few years now; he’s training in some foreign land way from here since there is barely any land around.”

“There’s three of you?” Aang’s eyebrows shot upward. He wondered if Katara would have loved having a younger brother. She had always loved children and would have probably enjoyed being an older sister.

She laughed dryly, “And there might be a fourth if she captures you. Almost no one’s seen an airbender in decades, so she'll definitely try to capture _you_. They rarely come out of their hiddings in the mountains so she hasn’t been able to⸺you know…. If she couldn’t mother an Avatar, then the next best thing was raising children with mastery of other elements. She’d be unstoppable.”

Aang’s jaw had dropped. There were other airbenders in this world!

. x . X . x .

Appa quickly became anxious as soon as they spotted Air Temple Island. He pulled at his reins and sped forward, startling Katara.

“Woah boy!” She giggled and ran a hand through his fur. “I miss him too, but let’s get there safely.”

Appa grunted then roared, causing a heavy feeling to settle in her stomach. He raced across the sky and roared again before touching ground, alerting the air acolytes around.

“Master Katara! Is something wrong?”

She jumped off of Appa’s head and asked for Aang.

“Last we saw him, he was meditating at his favorite spot, overlooking the city.”

One of the girls rushed over to take the reins from her, but Appa blew air through his nose in frustration.

“That’s okay, we’re going to loop around and surprise him,” Katara patted between his eyes and climbed back.

Together, they took to the sky again and headed towards where Aang should be. As they approached, neither could spot Aang from above. Katara gently guided Appa into the water in case Aang had decided to explore the rocky beach below, but again didn’t see him anywhere.

“He’s probably inside, making us some treats or something,” Katara tried to convince them both. She had told him they’d be back before sunset and it was rapidly approaching, he would have been out in the open to greet them like all the other times they’d been away.

They were about to take off again when they heard Momo and looked up. In between his hind paws were Aang’s staff and the heavy pit in her stomach grew.

“Oh no,” Katara knew, “Aang’s gone again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
